


Cloth Monkeys

by JenelleLucia



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Dr. Henry Harlow, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-01
Updated: 2015-02-01
Packaged: 2018-03-09 21:59:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3265865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JenelleLucia/pseuds/JenelleLucia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maybe Lia wasn't the only one who needed closeness after all. | England/Tavarua</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cloth Monkeys

_"The need for closeness and affection goes deeper than a need for warmth."_

* * *

 

If there was a safer way for Arthur to euphanize it, he seemed to serve as a source of comfort throughout the years.

To whom, one might ask? Well, it was  _her_ , if not anyone else. He sat there in his living room one night, channel surfing through different shows that seemed to come up every once in a while ( _these American shows_ , he'd think;  _did they ever have anything good on_?) and something about a psychological experiment containing something with monkeys and surrogates and the need for closeness...

Why, the thought of this show and the breakdown of this experiment intrigued him immensely.

The program began on a rather good note, going through the general basis of the experiment and the relationship between a child and their caretaker...oh, Arthur thought that he had heard too much of this before. It was even more than hearing about it; he lived through it. He wondered how differently things would have turned out if  _she_  wasn't raised without any parental figure - male, female, or otherwise - in her life.

If he thought about it a little more, she could have turned out to be disturbed and negligent with her own duties as a nation. However, he knew that his former colony owed him a lot for just going to take care of her - or on other occasions if he weren't available Francis and Mathieu. Arthur, though...he was the one who was there the most. He couldn't count the times that he was called on to take care of her. In his mind, it was so many times that he didn't really remember how many times he had been asked to care for  _her_.

He never regret one single minute of it.

Arthur would remember all the times he'd come over and for a moment  _she_  would forget why his former colony was leaving  _her_ in the first place. It was as if all her worries disappeared, and right then and there she'd have _him_ wrapped around her little finger and _he_ was out of the picture. Then again...when he came back he'd lie and say that he's back for good and there'd have to be some other time when Arthur would have to get her attention. 

History seemed to serve him well, if most people knew what he was saying. 

Arthur was the one who gave his shoulder to her when she saw _something_ (it involved his former colony, most of the time), lent her an ear when she wanted to talk, caught her when she fell too hard or ran too fast...what was it all for? Oh, right. He fell in love with _her_. 

He remembered the first time that he had seen her in nearly 15 years. She was beautiful, absolutely stunning - with her long, lightly sunkissed blond hair in such naturally soft, romantic curls framing her heart-shaped face and her normally bright, sky blue eyes shining brighter than before, he just wanted to hold her close and promise her that he wouldn't let her go again. She had grown up so much during their years together and he thanked his lucky stars that she didn't end up like those infant monkeys that were only raised on the wire mother. 

If anything, she could have ended up that way if she were neglected by his former colony if he hadn't been called to care for her. 

No. She didn't end up that way and she was absolutely lucky. Even though it was by a long shot, he was there. Arthur was there. He always had been, and now...

_"Whatcha watchin'?"_

A small smile crossed Arthur's lips as he looked back to see that perfect angel he had fallen so deeply in love with through the years standing in the doorway of the family room in their Mayfair home. He beckoned her over with a single finger and she giggled as she sauntered over to him and joined him on the couch. He pulled her closer to him and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, letting her lay her head against his chest. 

Arthur made his conclusion here. His former colony was the wire monkey, his perfect angel was the baby, and he was the cloth monkey. While America nurtured Tavarua, he wasn't able to give her the love she really craved and needed to be the way she is now; Arthur did. Arthur gave her the love and affection and the sense of security she really needed to grow, and when he grew to fall in love with her she learned to love him in return. She loved him for everything he was, despite wishing that she was the one America loved. 

Alfred F. Jones didn't love her. Arthur did. And Lia loved him just as much as he loved her. 

Maybe Lia wasn't the only one who needed closeness after all. He still had to answer her question on what he was watching, though. 

_"It's a little something that's close to home, love."_

**Author's Note:**

> ~ For Kristen, Regina, and our awesome health teacher who taught us about this fascinating experiment with monkeys, cloth, and wire ~


End file.
